For the best part of a century, brown coal has provided most of the energy Victorians use. But concern about the environmental consequences throws down many challenges. Are there more efficient ways of using coal? How can we best control the carbon dioxide emissions? If we capture carbon, are there good uses for it? How do we develop renewable fuels to replace coal? And if we stop using brown coal for fuel, what purpose can we find for this massive resource? Professor Alan Chaffee's research embraces all these, and more.